Replaced
by Zottelchen
Summary: Rush found an unusal energy signature on a planet and wants to investigate. Young sends TJ with him and both get into unexpected trouble...
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys, normally I'm just writing german stories, but due to an injury I have, I needed something to do at home and thought, maybe I try to translate. I know it's far beyond "normal english", but I think, it's understandable. Since I've no clue how to find a beta reader here (to much confusion on my side), I just published it. There ARE mistakes, spelling, grammer, whatever, but if you like, send me PM's with correction. Hope it's not too bad to read :)_

 _*edit* So much thanks to LMGoody, who beta-readed my story in a smooth english :) I'll update the next chapters when LMGoody sent them back. THANKS AGAIN SO MUCH!_

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Replaced

Destiny had dropped out of FTL so the crew could refill their supplies. Two gates were in range, one of them locked. Colonel Young sent a quick prayer and hoped they wouldn't get in some trouble like they did so often. He also hoped that the space suits wouldn't be necessary and that just this one time he would be lucky.

Rush and Eli stood at the console, dialing the gate. When the wormhole was established, Young said "Eli, send the kino." The device was on it's way, before Young had even finished his sentence.

"Looks good, Colonel", Eli said, when he got the first readings. "Oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, 73.4 °F and there's a creek near by." Quite proud of what he could tell, he looked at the Colonel who smiled.

"Lieutenant Scott", he adressed his subordinate, "what are you waiting for?" Scott didn't hesitate a second longer and he and his team stepped through the gate.

When they emerged they were greeted by springlike air. Trees circled the glade where the gate stood. As soon as he made sure the area was safe, he allowed himself to take a deep breath before he activated the radio. Dusk was already setting in. "This is Scott, send the next team."

"Understood", Young confirmed and seconds later more people stepped through the gate.

"Sergeant Greer, take two men and investigate the woods to the west; James, go south. I'll take the north." While the soldiers split up to secure the area, other people started to test the water; scooping it into a large container.

Greer and his team hadn't even reached the forest boundary when the sergeant lifted his fist. Immediately his people froze and focused on the woods. Now they could see what Greer had probably spotted – something large moving at the edge of the forest.

The three of them waited intently and very slowly a figure stepped out from a bush. It was a woman, who stared at them in surprise. It was obvious she had been gathering some berries as she was carrying a basket filled with the yellow fruits. "Who are you?", she asked bravely, nervously waiting.

Greer decided that this woman probably wasn't a threat and lowered his weapon. Still wary though of the woman and his environment he came closer and said: "We're travelers just looking for supplies." The next moment he activated his radio.

"Lt. Scott, this is Greer, seemes we've found a local; looks peaceful, though."

"We're on our way", the Lieutenant responded and a moment later Greer saw him and his team emerging out of the woods heading in his direction.

„It would be a pleasure to help you", the woman said and added, „Our village is nearby. If you'd like to return with me, you can talk to our village elder and we can share our supplies. This would probably spare you some work."

Scott, who had finally reached the group, replied cheerfully, „We would gladly accept your offer. We haven't much for trading, but maybe…"

The woman stopped him with a wave of her hand. „Never mind," she said. „We have the woods and the creeks which provide us with plenty of food; we really don't need anything from you. We would be very happy though, if you could spend some time with us. Perhaps you could tell us some stories about you and your ship?. Unfortunately, new tales are hard to come by here." She smirked slightly and Scott and Greer exchanged a look.

"I'll inform the Colonel", Greer said. "You go ahead."

"Agreed. Make sure one team stays with our people harvesting water; the rest are with me."

"Yes, Sir." Greer headed back to the gate, relaying Scott's orders.

"Please show us the way", Scott said and he and his team followed the woman.

It took them about half an hour to reach the village. The sun had started to set and the whole village and it's inhabitants looked like something out of the dark ages. Scott saw no technology or modern comforts at all. The people wore rough clothes, which seemed to protect them pretty well from wind and weather. The only lights came from the fires in cooking areas, lanterns and a large firepit in the center.

"Please wait here a moment. I'll let our people know that we have visitors." She disappeared into a larger hut and when she reappeared, she was followed by an older man, who greeted them friendly enough.

"Welcome strangers. Please, make yourselves at home. Shortly we'll gather here, cooking something we hope you will find delicious. I've heard you need some supplies?"

"Yes, thank you", Scott said hesitating. He was a bit taken by surprise with the warm welcome and felt a bit guilty to take away the provisions of those people. But when he looked over to a very large hut whose doors were open, he could see dozens of crates, sacks and barrels, piled to the roof.

"You're sure, you just want to give up some to us?", Young's voice came from behind. He was followed by the rest of the away team. He was assured they did. Soon after their arrival, the villagers as well as the Destiny crew started to carry nearly half of the supplies from the large hut back to the gate. Meanwhile, some of the women had set a fire in the big firepit in the middle of the village and began roasting some kind of wild boar on a spit.

About 3 hours later the supplies were on Destiny and nearly half of the crew had left the ship. They sat around the bonfire together, eating, drinking and telling stories about their journey. Young tried to omit some specifics, keeping the story general and subtly tried to make it clear to his people to spare details from or about the ship. It was just a feeling he had. He didn't know why he wanted to keep these secrets; maybe he felt so uneasy because it wasn't their ship. The villagers weren't upset though, and the village elder just smiled and said: "Everyone keeps some little secrets, Colonel. Without them, life would be boring." He blinked at him and took a sip of water.

For a moment Young was alarmed by his words, but then thought it was foolish. They had seen the village. Neither the huts nor the people seemed dangerous in any way for them. He smiled, tried to focus on the laughter and conversations of the people and told an anecdote from his childhood.

On Destiny Rush and Eli were busy analyzing readings from the systems. Eli wasn't altogether happy about being at work as half an hour ago (when he was in the gate room to help store the supplies) he overheard some talk about how wonderful the planet was and felt he wouldn't mind trying some of this boar-like animal.

When he came back to Rush he started to rave about the things he had heard to the scientist.

"They're roasting some kind of wild boar on a spit and the air is wonderfully warm. Maybe we could join them for a while? You know you really could use a decent dinner. Youdidn't have lunch today because you were calculating something again…"

During his monolog, Eli pushed some buttons and looked out of the corner of his eyes to Rush. The scientist didn't stop working, but said slighly irritated: "All right, Eli. There're four hours left until Destiny jumps to FTL again. Go."

"Don't you wanna join me?", the young man tried again, feeling a little bit of pity for the scientist.

"That would just be a waste of my time. Out, before I change my mind", Rush snarled, even more irritated and without another word Eli sped out.

When he was gone Rush paused for a moment and allowed himself to sigh. They wouldn't make any progress if people got constantly distracted from work. For some minutes he continued working until suddenly an unknown reading of an energy source on the planet caught his attention. Frowning, he studied the readings and activated his radio.

"Eli, are you still on the ship?"

There was a pause before he got an answer, which wasn't what he wanted to hear: "Sorry, Doc, already on the planet."

Rush shook his head in resignation as he was sure he had been in time and Eli just jumped through the gate.

"Have fun. Rush out."

He leaned his hands on the console and looked down, like he always did when he thought about a decision. A few seconds later he left the control room, packed the things he would need in a backpack and made his way through the gate too.

"Rush, what are you doing here? Wanna celebrate after all?", Colonel Young asked in surprise, when the scientiest stepped out of the darkness.

"No, thank you, I just thought I would get some fresh air. Mr. Wallace convinced me this was worth it."

He walked past the party and had nearly vanished into the darkness again when Young's voice made him pause.

"Rush! Wait."

On edge, Nicholas Rush turned around and looked at the Colonel.

"We don't know much about this world; there's a possibility that there are dangerous animals in the woods. Maybe you should stay with us. Air here's as fresh as anywhere", he said with a smile.

"Thank you, but I prefer to go for a walk. Don't worry, I'm not going that far."

He just wanted to leave when he heard Young again: "Sergeant Greer, you're with him."

Rush felt the urgent desire to strangle the Colonel. Besides the fact that he wanted to be alone when he tried to find that energy source, he thought it was out of pure malice to send Greer of all people with him. Another voice prevented him from saying something he probably would have regretted. It was TJ who stood up and said: „I'll go with him. I could use a little walk, I think I ate a bit too much."

Both Young and Rush knew that she realized what was brewing and tried to save the day. She gave Young a pleeding look and he nodded.

"Very well. Dr. Rush, TJ is with you."

This time, Rush's face showed only a slight disapproval, but he was wise enough to accept the offer of Lieutenant Johansen.

"Let's go", he just said and headed off. TJ hurried to catch up and Young said: "One hour, TJ. And if there's anything unusual, you radio in immediately."

"Understood." Conscientiously she grabbed her Medi-backpack and followed Rush.

"I'll eat my hat if he's only going for a walk", Brody murmured and chomped into his tough, but very delicious meat.

"Who knows what he has found this time", Eli agreed silently, but was a bit worried. Of course he had known right away that Rush wasn't here just for a walk and was glad TJ was with him to keep an eye out. Since he couldn't do anything about it he decided to let it go.

"Rush, what is it really you're after?", Tamara asked, when they were a few minutes away from the village and sure that nobody could hear her.

Nicholas sighed. Why did Young always have to foil him and believe that he needed a watchdog.

 _Because he is convinced I'm up to no good,_ he thought bitterly.

He answered TJ, "I have reasons to believe that there's a cave nearby. I just want to check it out."

TJ knew, there was more but he wasn't ready to tell. Not now, anyway. So she just said: "Okay, how far is it?"

Rush looked at her sceptically. He wasn't used to the fact that someone accepted his sparsely worded explanations. "Approximately 15 minutes."

They walked in silence for a few minutes until TJ tried to make some small-talk.

"I didn't see you in the mess for lunch", she said carefully.

"I was busy working on an important project, I just lost track of time", he answered and hoped she would drop it. He had to admit though, his stomach had been growling when he stood by the bonfire and he could smell the roasted meat.

"Hm, did you eat something later on?", she naturally pressed on.

"No. But when we're back I intend to do just that. Could we end this conversation by any chance?"

"You know I'm responsible for the health of the entire crew, which includes you too, Nicholas. To be honest, I've been worried about you for some time. You've lost weight again and work too much and too long."

"If everyone would be more concerned about Destiny instead of their hobbies, I wouldn't have that much to do. Take Mr. Wallace for example; he perfers to sit at a bonfire instead of assisting me. Of course I need to work much longer then." Rush sounded quite peeved, but TJ was unimpressed by that.

"I understand the new data is extremely interesting since you broke the code, but it's of no use if you collapse."

"I don't crock up. Can't you see how important it is to understand everything about Destiny and her mission? We have to know what Destiny is up to. Only then might we able to dial earth and bring more scientists on board, who…", he fell silent when he noticed the gaffe he'd made.

"And of course bring the crew home", Tamara softly reminded him.

Rush stroke his hair. "Needless to say."

TJ just nodded. "Certainly. Nevertheless, you have to restrict your workload. You'll collapse if you continue to work like this. I'm the medical officer and I recognize the symptoms; you're not far away anymore."

"We're almost there", the scientist abruptly changed the subject. "There's the entrance."

Tamara intended to continue the conversation at a later time and looked in the direction Rush was pointing to. He was right. On a small hill was a crevice in the mountain.

"Dr. Rush, you're not really going in there just like that?", TJ asked a bit nervously.

"Why do you think I came here?", he answered with a bit of dry sarcasm and whithout looking at her again he climbed up the small hill.

TJ looked around and considered what she should do, but since Rush set a brisk pace she had to decide quickly. She followed him. The scientist had already vanished through the crevice and the only thing Tamara could still see was the constantly fading torchlight.

"Rush! Wait!", she shouted after him, but he had already turned the corner.

"Damn it", Tamara grumbled and pressed a button on her radio.

"Colonel Young, this is TJ." She waited a moment, but all she could hear was static. "Colonel Young, do you read?", she tried again, but there was no answer.

"Damn it", she grumbled again, switched on her flashlight and went after Rush. When she had passed the crevice she noticed that there was only one way to go. For a while the cleft was steady and straight up to a sharp bend to the left. Cautiously she turned the corner and gasped for air in surprise. She was standing at the top of a wide stone circular stair.

"Rush?!", Tamara shouted, but didn't get an answer. She couldn't see his torchlight either. Carefully she followed the stairs down and after a few minutes she could see something lying in the middle of the stairs. She directed her light towards it and the next moment started to run.

"Rush!", she cried and reached the scientist, who was lying unconciousness on the ground, a severe cut on his forehead.

She examined him carefully and was glad she had brought along her medical supplies. While she cleaned the wound she noticed something strange. How could Rush have sustained such an injury? The walls on both sides were at least 2 meters away and there was nowhere obvious where he could have gotten hurt. She also doubted he just stumbled, because he lay on his back and there were no other scratches or cuts on his hands or in his face.

 _Someone must have knocked him down,_ she realized and lifted her flashlight to look for an attacker. But just as she did, something hit her hard on the back of her head and she joined Rush on the ground. For a brief moment she saw a vague figure coming towards her, then she lost consciousness.

Two figures dragged them both deep into the mountain up to a large chamber with a hugh device standing in the middle. Cylindrical conduits studded throughout with a bright, yellow energy core. If Rush would have been conscious, he would have found his mystery energy source.

Both were dragged to the device, put onto two cots which were connected to the device and locked under a glass dome. As soon as the pod was closed, small tubes penetrated their hands and arms and the device began to work.

An hour after Rush and TJ had left the party, Young moved a few meters away to have some privacy for radioing TJ.

"TJ, this is Young. Are you alright?", he asked, but like Tamara he could only hear static. He tried again with no luck. He decided, to wait another 15 minutes until he'd send a search party. They had to return to Destiny anyway, so he decided to take the time and wrap up the party.

"We're very thankful for your hospitality and the supplies", he said, when he got everyone's attention. "Unfortunately it's time to return to our ship and two of our people are missing. All personnel except Lieutenant Scott and Sergeant Greer return to the gate. We're going to search for TJ and Rush."

"That won't be necessary", a very well known voice sounded out of the darkness. Young turned around and was relieved when he saw TJ and Rush emerging out from the darkness.

"TJ, are you okay?", he asked worriedly. "I wasn't able to make radio contact."

"Same here", she answered and Rush said: "There's some kind of ore in the mountains which interferes with the radio waves. But that shouldn't be a problem anymore." Young said nothing, he was just glad that both had made it back safe.

"We return to the ship", he said and walked ahead. Rush and TJ were in the middle, followed by Scott and Greer. Half an hour later they reached the gate and stepped through it.

"Well, that was a welcome change", Eli said when the last team made it back. Then he looked at Rush. "Do you want me to help you with these readings again, Doc?", he asked, sounding a bit hopeless.

"That won't be necessary. Get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow", Rush responded, obviously relaxed, and caught up with TJ who just had left the gate room.

Slack-jawed Eli stared after him until he turned a corner and Brody, who appeared behind him said with a shake of his head, "If I hadn't seen that this was clearly Rush talking, I'd have thought it was someone else."

"Maybe he's just in a good mood. Who knows...maybe TJ bitched him out, she's really tough with that", Eli assumed and decided, not to think about it anymore but to take advantage of this unexpected time off. Brody shrugged his shoulders and headed towards his own quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

TJ had a throbbing headache. At least that was what she first noticed when she woke up. With a groan of pain, she opened her eyes and went to cradle her head but she found she couldn't move her hands. She blinked several times and slowly became more orientated. She seemed to be in a hut; her feet were bound and her hands were tied behind her back. She looked around and saw another figure lying motionless on the opposite wall, trussed up like her.

"Dr. Rush?", she whispered, but he didn't move. TJ tried moving around to check if she was hurt; fortunately she wasn't. Slowly she wriggled over to Rush to check on him. When she reached him, she could still see the large gash. Thankfully, it had at least stopped bleeding.

"Rush, wake up", she tried again. Carefully she rolled over to nudge his shoulder. That worked as Rush groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Ouch", he gasped and like TJ became aware of the fact that he couldn't move.

"We're in a hut", TJ explained. "I found you in the cave, but they knocked me out too."

"Are you alright?", Rush asked concerned, because TJ was one of a very few people he both got along with and cared for. Of course, he would never admit that to anybody else.

"Just a slight headache, what about you? Given that cut your head must be pounding pretty bad."

"It's nothing", Rush downplaying the pain he felt. "I'm more concerned about what they want from us."

Right on cue, the door opened and Rush and TJ had to narrow their eyes because of the bright light. After a few seconds, their eyes had adapted and they recognized a villager standing in the doorway, examining them before finally approaching.

"What is this all about?", TJ asked, but they didn't get an answer. Without saying anything, the man left and closed the door. "Not exactly the talkative type", Rush said dryly.

"What does it mean? First they help us, then they abduct us? And where are the others? They must be aware of us missing", she started but then suddenly paused. She looked at Rush, eyes widened and he could see the fear in them.

 _So she noticed as well,_ he thought.

"They're gone, aren't they?", she asked with a trembling voice.

"According to the position of the sun, they must have jumped to FTL about 10 hours ago." He could see the tears welling up in her eyes, but she quickly pulled herself together.

"But they can stop the Destiny", building up her castle in the air which Rush collapsed seconds later. He would have liked to tell her something more positive; but it was a fact... that they were stranded here.

"Tamara, you know Destiny needs to stay at least 4 hours in hyperspace. That means if they were not here in the last few hours, I'm afraid…", he didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to. TJ looked as he just had slapped in her face.

"You mustn't give up hope", Rush begged, trying to lift her spirits. "If we can escape and dial the gate, maybe we can catch up. I'm sure they'll do everything they can to find us. Remember when Lieutenant Scott, Sgt Greer, Eli and Chloe were left behind? They all made it back. For god's sake, I even trust Eli to overload the FTL drive just to prevent Destiny from going into hyperspace." _And if he's really doing such a crappy thing and he damages her beyond repair, I'm going to kill him,_ Rush thought.

At least his theories had bolstered her up slightly. She forced a little smile and just said: „Thanks, Nicholas."

Rush didn't answer but tried to find a more comfortable postition and closed his eyes. His head was pounding almost unbearably, but he absolutely wanted to prevent TJ from noticing it.

He had barely closed his eyes when the door was re-opened and another man entered. Rush opened his eyes again and looked at him.

"Will you also say nothing or will you actually tell us why were're here?", Rush asked sarcastically.

"You're here…", the man paused to consider his next words before continuing, "… because you were in the right place at the right time, at least for us anyway. In your case, I'd say you just were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks to you, we didn't need to come up with a trick to lure two of your people into the cave. You kindly did that on your own. I'd just like to know how you knew it was there. You didn't have a scanner with you."

Rush listend attentively. A scanner? These people seemed primitive; nothing indicated any kind of technology, but yet here he was talking about a scanner. He decided however, to try to solve that puzzle later. Getting useful information was more important so he answered truthfully. "Sensors on our ship picked up an energy source which I was curious about."

The man nodded. "Wonderful! So your technologie is far advanced. Far more advanced than your weapons, I guess."

"Why do you care about that?", TJ asked. "The ship is long gone. Wait until our people get us out of here, you'll see…" The man laughed. "Your people getting you out? Why should they? You're not missing." Both TJ and Rush stared at him open-mouthed.

"Even if you'd told them we were dead, they still would search for us, if only for taking along our bodies", TJ snorted angrily.

"Ah, but you're not missing because you went back on board your ship, together with the rest of your crew", the man explained. Rush and TJ looked at each other puzzled.

"How can we be on board if we're here?", Rush asked and sensing something awful was coming. What was the meaning of this energy core? He didn't have to wait long to find out.

"The energy source you found belongs to a relict from the past. We don't know who or what created it down there, but by chance we found that it's used for changing physical appearance. First we thought it was just to modify our outward appearance, but then we tried to create a twin. Worked perfectly. The device reads your DNA sequences, transfers it into a biomolecular mass and injects it into the copy. It's just an external change, which can be undone in an instant, but it's perfect. So don't think someone will come and get you. You're not missing."

With that he left them alone and this time TJ couldn't hold back her tears. Rush looked like he'd just learned that Destiny had never existed and in this most inappropriate moment, he just thought, _So that's what's behind this…_

The next minute his brain kick-started and he started to think again. If he wasn't mistaken about the course of Destiny, there were a lot of gates nearby on her route. So after 4 hours, the ship would drop out of FTL. If he and TJ could escape and could dial the next few gates, they could probably make it back to Destiny. At the moment he wasn't sure how to dial the gate without the kino remote, but if he was lucky, his backpack was still here. So his next step would be to figure out how to steal it, if necessary.

 _But first we must be able to move,_ he thougt resignedly and examined the rope and the knots at his feet. Maybe he could free TJ, if they lay back to back. But before he even could make such a suggestion, the doors were opened again and someone brought two bowls with water and food.

"And how exactly are we supposed to eat that?", TJ asked, when the man was about to leave and looked back at her bound hands.

"Very well, but don't even think about doing anything stupid." He pulled a knife out of his pocket and freed her hands and feet.

"Thank you", TJ said and kneaded her wirsts. Then he freed Rush who was thankful for having no need to think about that problem anymore. He even pushed his luck and asked, "Is my backpack still here? I have asthma and need my inhaler, otherwise I'll choke to death if I get an attack." TJ stared at him sharply but then schooled her expression into one of concern, certain that he was up to something. She knew he didn't suffer from asthma, but she kept quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, Rush watched TJ and was relieved when she seemed to understand and prayed she would play along.

The man looked curiously at Rush. "Asthma? What's that?"

Now it was TJ's turn. "Briefly – he's allergic to some things, exposure to which will cause his airway to close up and sooner or later he'd choke to death. To prevent that from happening, he needs his inhaler, it's a medicine."

The man ran his hand through his hair as if he was thinking about what he would answer. Apparantly he decided it woudn't be all that bad if Rush stayed alive and said, "We kept your stuff, but not yours", he referred the last part to TJ.

"Then it would be to best advantage if you give it to me so I can take out my spray."

"I'm going to go talk about this with the others. Eat..and don't get any ideas, the door is guarded."

He left and when his steps faded away, TJ whispered: "What was that all about? You don't have asthma."

"Of course I haven't", Rush answered snappishly, but also quietly. "I had to find out if my stuff is still here. Fortunately it is, because in one of the more hidden pocket is a kino remote. Without it we won't be able to dial the gate. Well, at least not that easy. I don't know how they dial the gate."

"Clever, to come up with an alien desease", TJ praised him and pushed the bowl with the little bit of food over to him. "Here, you haven't eaten anything the whole day."

"I'm going to eat half of this, just like you", he said dourly and TJ just sighed. Together they ate what had been given them, although Rush had some trouble keeping it down. It was just rank, nothing at all similar to the animal on the spit yesterday evening. For a moment he asked himself if they were just trying to poison them. As nasty as it was though, it gave him back some energy. They also divided up the water, keeping some of it for later.

"How's your head feeling?", TJ asked and hunkered down in front of him to examine the cut on his forehead. She couldn't do anything, because she had neither medicine nor bandages, but at least she could check on him.

"As I said, it's nothing. We need to get away from here as soon as possible if we ever want to go back to Destiny."

"But how can we get out of here? The door is guarded and there's no rear exit", she stated and looked around the round hut, which was no more than 4 meters in diameter with a large pole anchored in the middle to keep up the thatched roof.

"Maybe I should start to have an allergic reaction to all the straw here", Rush said. "If we're lucky, they bring the bag and the only thing we have to take care of is to surprise them and make a run for it. Shouldn't be a problem."

While TJ wasn't too enthusiastic about the plan shet also didn't have a better idea. "Okay, try to cough incessantly and gasp for breath and leave the rest up to me."

"Very well. One asthma patient coming right up", he said smugly and started to fake a cough attack.

"Rush? RUSH!", TJ cried in the hut, hoping the guards would hear the panic in her voice. She was lucky. The doors opened immediately and two men looked inside to see what was happening.

"He's suffering an asthma fit! I need his pack right now! He's going to die!" To emphasize TJ's words, Rush gasped desperately for air and writhed in agony on the ground.

This seemed to be enough for the guard and he shouted something to his partner who ran off and returned only a few moments later with Rush's backpack. So their plan had work so far, but how could they make their run?

Before TJ could think about it, Rush suddenly made a swipe with his leg and kicked the legs of one of the guards away. With a scream of pain he crashed against the pole, hit the ground and stopped moving. The other guard was dumbfounded for a moment and Rush used the time to get up and take him down with a powerful punch into the face.

He grabbed TJ's hand and pulled her after him out of the hut. He held the backpack in the other hand and orientated himself quickly once outside, heading for the forest.

Not until Rush with TJ had hit the forest boundary did the villagers became aware that something was up. Someone yelled after the escapees and the men grabbed their weapons and tore after them.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning on Destiny, Eli walked into the control room and actually was prepared for Rush to be in a foul mood. He came to an abrupt halt though, staring at the scientist who stood apparantly lost in thought at a console, staring at it and looking as if he had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Dr. Rush?", Eli asked. "Are you alright?"

"What? Oh, Eli… good morning. Everything's fine, thank you for asking. So...did you enjoy yourself yesterday planetside?"

In the meantime, Eli had reached his console and wasn't able to do anything but stare incredulously at Rush.  
 _Must be a dream. Right. I'm still in my bed and dreaming._ He pinched his arm and realized that he was in fact wide awake. However, he now had Rush's undivided attention, waiting with a smile for Eli to answer.

"Ehm… yes… I think so", the young man stammered, looking down at his console. "Are you really sure, you're okay? I know you were eager to finish these readings", Eli started to think to himself that this was Rush's newest tactical maneuver to bitch him out any moment. "The break really did me a world of good and I'm completely focused again and ready for some nightshifts." He grinned broadly at him.

"Very well… now, where were we yesterday?", Rush asked and now Eli looked at him like to a tap-dancing ice bear. "Ehm…the…daily ship routine and the findings of the planetary system scan?", he was rather asking.

"Right. Why don't you check up on the planet and I'll check if our ship is ready to resume it's journey", the scientist suggested with a smile.

"Ehm…, okay, Doc", Eli stammered and got to work.  
 _What's up with him?_ , he asked himself and watched Rush more than ever before.  
Rush's mouth seemed to be frozen in a slight smile and not once did he urge Eli to do something or ask about his progress.

As time went by, Eli found the bevavior of the lead scientist got more and more eerie and he really was thinking about informing TJ and asking her to do a complete check up on him. When Rush ever asked where he could access the life support, Eli got all over him.

"Dr. Rush, what's the matter with you?", he asked straight away. "Is this another way of letting me know you're upset with me because I wanted to go to the planet yesterday? Yeah, I know how much you care about the Destiny and her mission, but it was only for a few hours… or did you catch something during your walk?" Eli was so confused, he blurted out his two best therories.

Rush looked at him startled and said, "Of course not, how could you think something like that? Everything's perfectly fine. Maybe I'm just a bit… preoccupied today."

"Preoccupied? You? If you're ever not 100 percent focused, you shoud have TJ check on you. You are NEVER preoccupied."

"Eli", Rush said calmly, because the young man seemed to be more than a bit alarmed. "If it makes you happy, I'll let TJ check. I assure you though, I'm fine. You've had a bad day every now and then, haven't you?" He gave him a broad grin. Eli grabbed his head with both hands, shook it, and let go again, not lowering his hands but starting to gesture.

"If you have a bad day, you snarl at everyone every 2 seconds for any and every thing. Today, you're the gentleness person ever. You're even so gentle that I don't even know if we know each other."

Rush gave him a sharp look. "Would you prefer me shouting the whole day?", he asked more Rush-like.

Eli was speechless for a moment, but then he burst out: "Yes! To be honest, you're scary today!" He lowered his arms again and calmed down. That had sounded more like Rush.

"As you wish. I just thought, I'd try to be nicer today."

"Yes, no, I mean yes, nicer, okay, but give me some warning!", he said, still confused which raised another smile on Rush's face.

"Very well, I'm officially warning you that I don't want to shout at anybody today. And now, would you please be so kind and help me access that data?"

Eli gave up. He went over to Rush, pressed some buttons on his console and said: "It's noon. Let's go to the mess and have lunch."

"No, thanks, go ahead. I'd like to finish here." For once, Eli was fine with that and nearly fled.

Rush followed him with his eyes uncomfortably. This Dr. Rush seemed to be a disagreeable little man, bossing his people around. Too bad that while the device copied most memories along with the body shape, it didn't copy the personality. Well...now he had been forewarned and the boy seemed to have accepted his flimsy excuse; at least he hoped so. Plus, he now had the opportunity to figure out in peace how this technology worked. This kind was unfamiliar to him and he was far behind the timetable to put the crew out of action.

In the mess hall, Eli got really nice food for a change and joined Chloe, Matt, Lisa Park, Brody and Dr. Volker at a table.

"Hey Eli, you all right? Rush didn't try to bite you?", Chloe joked. Eli put his cutlery down and bent forward so no one else could hear him.

„I really think that something's wrong with him", he told them. The others leaned forward to listen attentively. „What do you mean?", Matt asked.

"Rush is more friendly than Mother Teresa and I had to show him how to activate some routine ship protocols." The others still looked quite doubtful.

"Don't you think your overreacting a bit?", Volker asked.

"No! See for yourself. Go down and ask him a really stupid question", Eli suggested promptly, which was meant as a joke, but Volker took him at his word.

"I'll pay him a visit later on."

"In reference to Dr Rush", Chloe interrupted thougthfully, "TJ's been acting a bit odd, too."

"What is that supposed to mean?", Brody asked.

"Well, earlier today I assisted her in the infirmary with an open wound and when she saw the blood I really thought she was going to faint at any moment. It's as if she can't stand the sight of blood anymore! She also hesitated for a long moment before she took care of the wound. And she has been anxious to have as little contact as possible."

Chloe thought again about that strange incident and the others quieted. It was Brody who summarized the obvious.

"So to get this straight, Rush and TJ were normal when they left Destiny. Then they went for a walk about an hour or so alone and now they're both acting strange. What does that tell us? Option number one: we are just imagining things. Option number two: something happened down on the planet that may have affected them and they didn't think it was important. Option number three: it's simply not their day today."

"I wouldn't dismiss number one, but that we can check", Park said. "Number two would be alarming, but wouldn't they have told us if there had been something unusual? I mean, it's not the air, all of us breathed it."

"I'd prefer number three", Eli said, "But to be honest, I think something's really wrong with Rush."

"Then maybe you, Brody and Volker should probe a bit", Matt suggested, "I'll take Chloe and we'll have a chat with TJ, then we'll regroup. And we should inform Colonel Young", he added.

"Let's talk to them first. Afterwards you can still tell him", Volker said. "Very well. But we'll do it right after lunch", Matt ordered.

Eli, who had finished eating, said to Brody and Volker, "Shall we go then?" "  
Fine with me. I've to go to the control room anyway." Brody rose, followed by Volker. Together with Eli they left the mess to check out Rush.

The real Rush, who was still dragging TJ by the hand, barrelled through the undergrowth. They could hear their pursuers behind them and Rush realized that they couldn't run forever. The would have to find a good hideout. Once, TJ had stumbled over a large root and nearly fallen and the woods were getting thicker.

"Under the tree trunk", Rush shouted and headed to the right. TJ followed him and behind a big, fallen tree trunk they found a hideaway. Gasping for breath after the long run, they hoped their pursuers would run past them or in another direction. They were lucky. Two men ran past them, deeper into the woods. They both held their breath and were relieved when the men were out of sight.

Rush carefully risked a look over the tree and when he could neither see nor hear anyone, he said, "Let's go, we have to get to the gate."  
"Okay", TJ said and both ran on.

Half an hour later they rounded a small hill and Rush suddenly stopped when he saw two of the villagers ahead of him still searching for them. Luckily, TJ had reacted quickly and cautiously and they hastily retreated only to walk into yet another villager who had creeped up from behind. Rush reacted quickly, hurling his backpack into the man's face. In the same moment as he threw his bag, he felt a sharp pain in his side. The bag had connected with his opponent, who had simultaneously shot an arrow – that hit.

TJ, who hadn't realized what had happened, ran to the man lying motionless on the ground, quickly checked him and retrieved the bag. "He's just unconscious", she shouted and turned. Her eyes widened in fear and she immediately ran back to Nick.

He was still staring in shock down at the arrow lodged deep inside him. His hand moved to the shaft to simply pull it out, but TJ's voice stopped him.  
"Rush! Don't touch it!"

He obeyed and then TJ was by his side. Carefully she examined his wound and looked around. A few steps away was a large stone, exactly what she needed.  
"Nick, sit down", she said and assisted him.

Rush sharply gasped once for breath but allowed himself no further outward expression of pain.

"I have to get this arrow out, but I can't do it here", TJ said desperately. "We have to get back to Destiny."

"Well, there's only one problem – she's gone", Rush said dryly. "Just pull it out."

"No! If the arrowhead has barbs, I would be like putting an activated blender right into your abdomen. It's best to just break the shaft." She looked at the arrow and tried to break it at the top, but the shaft didn't yield an inch. Since she had no knife she had to reconsider pulling it out. "The shaft is too solid, I can't break it. Before I even think about pulling it out, I need to check the other arrows. Stay here."

She made sure Rush was sitting securely without sliding down the rock and ran back to the villager, returning with a look of relief.

"No barbs, it's a straight metal point. I'll just need something to stop the bleeding when it's out."

"Check the bag, normally there's a forgotten glasses cloth somewhere down inside." TJ could clearly hear the effort in Rush's voice; what it cost him to try to fool her that he wasn't that bad.

Quickly she rummaged about in the bag, hoping to find something in there besides the small cloth that she could use, but not finding anything.

"Come on, you better lay down, this is going to hurt. Try not to move", she explained and helped him to lie down and stretch out. "Ready?", she asked and he nodded, "Do it."

A bit hesitantly, TJ grabbed the arrow shaft and started to pull very slow and carefully. Fortunately, she felt no resistance and after what felt like hours but was only seconds (in which the scientist had to brace himself not to scream in pain) the arrow was out. At once TJ pressed the small cloth to his wound. Rush was breathing shallowly and sweating. "Well done, Nicholas", she praised him and went on pressing the cloth firmly to the wound.

"We should keep moving, we're not safe here", he said and tried to get up. TJ frowned but she knew that Rush was right. She helped him to sit up and then back onto the rock. "Sit here for another minute", she said, but Rush started to move.

"We've enough time for that later." He wanted to pick up the backpack again, but TJ firmly took it out of his hand.

"It's my turn", she said slighty miffed because the scientist wasn't taking his injury too seriously.

„Very well, but we have to go now."

TJ looked around once more and followed him. Rush walked hunched over and continued to press the small cloth, already saturated with blood, with his left hand onto his right side.

After 20 minutes, in which they had neither seen nor heard any sign of the villagers, TJ put an end to their flight temporarily by saying, "Enough... you have to rest. You can barely stand let alone run through the woods. Let me check your side again." Since her tone was unusually no-nonsense and Rush felt weaker than he would admit out loud, he wearily replied, "5 minutes, then we walk on."

"That's my decision", the medic snorted and helped the scientist sit down. Slowly he removed his hand and TJ looked beneath the cloth, which was slightly glued to the wound.

"We need water", she said and climbed onto a pile of stones. "We don't have the time for such luxury", Rush said and tried to stand up, but something prevented him from doing so.

"There, you see; your body is more reasonable than your mastermind", she teased, making a step to the left to look past a large tree. This saved her as an arrow missed her by only centimeters, whizzing past her right ear.

"Get down off the stones! We have to run!", Rush shouted and pulled himself together. He lurched to his feet and a wave of dizziness overcame him. He nearly fell, but TJ caught him.

"Come on, Nicholas", she pleaded desperately and Rush rallied his strenghth and started moving. TJ let go of him and cried, "Run, I'll try to hold them up." She didn't even wait for an answer, but turned around and ran towards the villager hoping Rush could escape.

When she came in sight, the man aimed his arrow at her and the moment he let fly, TJ was dragged to the ground.

"What are you doing? Run", she snarled at the scientiest, who had saved her life by shielding her with his body.

"Get up", he snarled back and though he was injured, he quickly got back to his feet and dragged TJ up. Then he shoved her forward so she would get moving. This time she didn't hesitate and ran in the opposite direction of their pursuer. Rush was close behind. Just as they reached a large rock formation where they could take cover, they heard another hissing. TJ used her momentum to throw herself up and over the rock and dropped to the ground. Seconds later she realized that she was alone.

"Rush?", she shouted and looked carefully around the rock. She gasped. Rush lay face down on the ground, the arrow protruding out of his back. He didn't move. TJ forgot her cover and stumbled towards her colleague.

"Rush, no!", she cried fearfully and felt for his pulse. Immediately she felt his heart still beating and was relieved. Before she could examine him more closely, two men dragged her roughly away and held her in place.

"Let go of me, I have to help him", she said firmly and struggled to break free, but she had no chance against them. In the meantime, more men from the search party had arrived. One of them kneeled beside Rush, pulled out the arrow without hesitation and through him face up onto the grass. Then he hoisted him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and headed back to the village, ignoring TJ's pleas to at least carry him flat.


	4. Chapter 4

Rush wasn't there when Eli and his companions reached the control room. Eli stepped to the console where Rush had been working and tried to figure out what he had done. Normally he would never would have dreamed about checking up on his boss, but this time he wanted to know what Rush was up to.

"So?", Brody asked after a few minutes, clearly bored. "Did you find anyhing interesting?"

Eli's jaw had dropped and he answered excitedly, "Yes...but I'm not sure I'm reading this right", he said and quickly pushed some buttons.

"What's wrong?", Volker asked again.

"If I'm not mistaken, and this time I really hope I am, then he just tried to shut down life support all over the ship except for the bridge."

"He did what?", both scientists asked at the same time.

"Fortunately for us, he failed", Eli said and reached for his radio. "Rush, this is Eli, where are you?"

When he didn't get an answer, Brody tried. "Rush, this is Brody, we could really use your help." But he didn't get an answer either.

"That's it, we have to tell Colonel Young", Eli said and just as he went to radio him he got a transmission.

"Eli, report to the infirmary." It was Matt, but his voice was pitched low as if he was whispering.

"Matt? What's up?", Eli asked.

"It's Rush. He's here and I have the feeling something's not quite right."

"On my way", Eli said and started to run towards the infirmary.

Shortly before he reached the doors, Chloe intercepted him and pulled him into a niche.

"Take a look", she whispered and slowly pulled him closer so he could see into the room.

"What are they doing?", he asked, when he saw them. Rush and TJ stood close together, whispering. Rush was gesturing intensely and TJ was persistently shaking her head and seemed close to tears. Eventually Rush gently grabbed her upper arms, talking intently to her. Whatever he said seemed to have calmed her down. She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder. Rush pulled her closer, hugged her and released her again.

"What the…", Matt started to say but Chloe cut him off.

"Wait, let's keep them under observation. Eli is absolutely right, something's definetly wrong with Rush. And also with TJ."

"We have to tell Colonel Young", Matt just said. "Keep an eye on them. I'll go."

"Okay", his girlfriend confirmed and Eli said, "The kino!", The next moment, he had disappeared. Matt was on his way, too. Chloe didn't have to wait long until Eli returned, but in the interim Rush had left the infirmary.

"Chloe, go...help TJ with something, anything. Just stay close and and keep an eye on her. And ask something about doctor's stuff."

"What? Why?", she whispered. Eli replied, "If I'm right, she'll have gaps in her knowledge, just like Rush does. That's the proof that something's definetely not right with them."

"Okay", she said, waiting a moment before entering the infirmary.

Meanwhile, Eli tried to find Rush. "I really wanna know what it is they caught on that planet", he murmured and decided to try the bridge first.

Rush had decided after he had left TJ that it was high time to act. He had no idea right now how to stop this ship, let alone turn it around; but to figure it out he had to make sure these humans were neutralized so they wouldn't get in his way. He also was beginning to notice that they were acting suspiciously. Rala, who had transformed into TJ, was pretty much freaking out because her original was a healer and she couldn't stand the sight of blood. It seemed time and their luck were running out.

His plan now was to get to this weapon chamber, the armory. He had needed some time to search through the transferred memories, but finally he found what he was looking for. At least he hoped he had. The brain of this scientist was so strange. He never had experienced anything like it before. He was definetely no simpleton and yet it was difficult for him to assimilate the sheer volume of information and knowledge. If they ever returned, he would take his time savoring the vast repository of Rush's brain.

On his way to the armory, something suddenly whirred past him and Rush leapt aside, staring at the sphere which floated silently behind him. On his remote, Eli saw the live pics. Rush, who had braced himself against the wall in shock, got up again, gave the kino a sceptical look and continued on determindly. Eli tried to follow him as inconspicuously as he could and observed him entering the armory.

"What the…", he burst out and in the next moment activated his radio. "Colonel Young, this is Eli."

"Go ahead, Eli", Young answered. "Did Matt already tell you about Rush and TJ?", he asked hastily.

"He did. Right now we're on our way to the infirmary…"

"Forget that", Eli cut him off, panic in his voice. "I found Rush, he's in the weapons chamber, tampering with the C4."

"Understood, we're enroute. Keep an eye on him and let us know when he leaves the armory."

"Roger that." Tensely Eli watched the small monitor and waited for Young to arrive. It wasn't long until Rush's neck snapped up, lifting his weapon and shooting. Eli flew the kino nearer so he could see everything. Fortunately, Rush seemed to be a really bad shot as he had missed. He looked for another way out of the room but was tackled to the ground. Greer and Scott had stalked him from both sides and pinned him down.

"Got him", Youngs voice came over the radio. "We're taking him to the infirmary. Meet us there, please."

"On my way", Eli answered and ran off.

When he got there he found things in an uproar. TJ, who was being guarded by two soldiers, wept bitterly while Rush flailed about wildly, red-faced with anger. Greer and Scott simply bundled him onto a cot and restrained him.

"What's going on?", Eli asked, looking at TJ.

"Obviously we have a problem here", Young said dryly and turned to Rush. "Stop it!" he yelled. "You're both have been acting completely strange. If you would stop struggling, maybe we could start to figure out what's happened to both of you!" Despite his sharp no-nonsense tone, the scientist didn't comply.

"Nothing's going on", he snarled, struggling to free himself.

"Sure, it's completely normal for you to shoot at us, mess around with C4 and forget how to operate the ship's systems!" Eli declared, giving Rush a reproachful look. "And what the hell were you trying to do to life support? Why would you want to kill us?", he screamed hysterically.

Rush glared at him and suddenly stopped struggling. He sighed and said: "Okay, you've won."

"Won? Won what? What are you talking about?", Young asked at once. Rush gave TJ a short look and nodded his head.

"It's not worth it", he said to her and she nodded back.

"What the hell are you talking about?", Young shouted, desparetly trying to hold onto his last shred of patience.

"Who are you?", Eli asked, on the spur of the moment.

"You see TJ and I came up with a bet when we went for our walk on the planet…", Rush began, but Young cut him off.

With a dangerous gleam in his eye he came closer and said with a barely controlled voice, "Rubbish. No more evasions...no more lies; answer Eli's question. Who – are – you?" He enunciated every single word, still staring intently at Rush. This time, the scientist said nothing.

"Okay", Young said and turned to his people. "Chloe, Lt. James, give them a full medical exam. Check their blood, take tissue samples, take whatever samples you can think of, but I have to know if these two are actually Rush and TJ."

"I'm not sure I'm up for it, this is TJ's area of expertise", Chloe said slightly upset.

"Maybe we should try to get an SGC physician on board Destiny?", Eli suggested. Young thought about that for a second, then said: "Do it. Without TJ, we're stuck."

"I'll do it", Chloe said and headed for the communication stones. Young informed the officer who was guarding the stones that Chloe was enroute and while they were waiting for her return, Young went over to TJ. The young woman still had tears in her eyes, but remained silent.

"TJ", he said softly, "or whomever I talking to, don't you wanna tell me what's going on? It would ease the situation". Young tried to talk her into cooperating, but she remained silent.

"Okay, we do it the hard way. Lt. Scott", he said and pointed with a nod of his head towards TJ. Scott knew what Young meant and he led her to a cot. Like Rush, she was restrained.

A few minutes later Chloe arrived, followed by an escort.

"I'm Dr. Charles, what do we have here?", she asked. Col. Young advised her of the situation and Dr. Charles went straight to work. She didn't have much to do though. , As soon as she took a blood sample from TJ, who lay still unlike Rush, everyone in the room could see that these two individuals were not their people. The blood was silver and looked like mercury.

"What is that?", Dr. Charles whispered, angling the sample slightly.

"Rush or whoever you are, you're going to have to talk eventually", Young stated mockingly. As he had thought though, the scientist kept quiet.

"TJ", he said, and went over to her bed. "You know it's over, but if you're not going to talk willingly, tell us who or what you are, we will have to use other methods. I know you don't want us do that, do you?" He talked gently, but insistently to leave no possible misunderstandings for her. He strongly felt she would soon cave in.

"Do you really want to do this the hard way?", he added. "I don't think you want us to have to cut you open…" He saw his trick would work.

"No, please don't!", TJ cried and added, when she had calm down a bit, "I'll tell you everything."

"Shut up!", Rush screamed, but Greer silenced him with a clear announcement that it was TJ's turn to speak now. It worked. When Rush saw the look on Greer' face he found he preferred to keep quiet.

"TJ, talk", Young said still softly and she began.

"My name is Rala, over there is Zair", she pointed to Rush. "We just took the appearance of your crewmates to get on board the ship."

"Where are TJ and Dr. Rush? Still on the planet?", Young interrupted her immediately. Rala just nodded.

"Eli", the Colonel addressed the math genius. "Make sure we get our people back."

"On it", he answered shortly and headed as fast as he could to the bridge. On the way he radioed Park, Brody and Volker and summoned them to the bridge too.

Young turned back to the fake TJ. "Go on."

Rala took a deep breath and said, "Maybe we look like primitive people, but we're not. However, we didn't feel we would be able to get all this new technology if we'd ask politely. We have a very old relic and found out accidentally that it's possible to copy the look and most of the memories from one person to another. Your people were merely an opportunity for us to get on board this alien vessel. Once aboard, we figured we would sabotage it and steal any of the technologies we thought we could use."

"You made all these efforts just to steal from us?", Scott butted in.

"But how did you plan to get off the ship without us noticing anything?", Young asked.

"Up until now it was relatively simple to sabotage a ship and make the crew think their vessel was going to explode at any second. Since we were always close to a gate, we could inform our people to send a team. It always worked. But your ship… it's completely different. We didn't understand everything and weren't able to gain the access we needed fast enough. We knew time was passing quickly and we realized we were too far away from the gate. Zair wanted to try to destroy some systems to slow the ship down, but before he could do it you found out about us."

"Dr. Charles", Young said to the physician, "I believe we don't need your help anymore. Thank you for coming."

"Just an everday house call, Colonel, that's my job! See you next time." A soldier escorted her back to the stone room, where she would change with Chloe again.

Young turned back to Rala. "But why? You have everything you need on your planet", he said.

This time they could hear a scornful snort from Zair and Young went over to him.

"Would you like to live so primitively? Alien technology allows us comfort, we won't give that up easily. Why should we work if we can just take what we need?"

"Of course, that's much more simple", Young said scornfully. "Where do you hide the stolen goods?", he asked Rala again. "It wasn't in your village."

"On another planet which we reach through the gate. It's uninhabited and inhospitable. Normally the address is locked. We built a storage facility and if we need something, we just go get it."

Young gave Rala a firm look when she had finished. For a moment it seemed he could look into her soul and the young woman looked away quite uncomfortably. Finally he turned away and said to his people: "Greer, James, you stay here and watch them. Scott, bridge."

"Yes, Sir", Matt replied and followed after the Colonel.

A few minutes later they had entered the heart of Destiny. Eli and his people were quite busy trying to set a new course.

"Status", Young said.

"Well, we can drop out of hyperspace, but we are still having problems turning the ship around. There is a gate nearby. If we go back through the gate system, we should be able to reach the planet with TJ and Rush. Luckily for us, this region contains many stargates, a kind of network we can dial through so we can reach them even if we're far away." He didn't look up during his explanatation but continued working with the systems.

"Very well, then we're getting them back. How long till that next gate is in range?", Young asked.

"Approximately 20 minutes", Eli answered.

"Good. Lt. Scott, prepare your teams, we're sending as many back as possible. Eli, figure out how to turn this ship around if it becomes necessary."

While Scott with a "yes, Sir", headed out to follow his orders, Eli was getting more and more nervous.

"We can try that, but we would need time to rewrite the whole system and the programs."

"Eli, that's all what I'm asking for, that you try", Young said calmly and left the bridge.

Almost 20 minutes later, Destiny dropped out of FTL.

"Okay, let's go. We don't have much time", Young shouted and Eli dialed the gate. "You know the way?", Young whispered to him.

"Of course", Eli confirmed a bit on edge. After the gate was opened and the readings of the planet checked, the teams went through.

"Good luck!", Brody shouted after them and the wormhole closed.


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Rush felt as he came to was a searing pain throughout his entire body. He groaned and tried to open his eyes. Something cool was placed on his forehead which helped him waking up.

"Try not to move", a soft voice said which he knew he should recognize. Then he it all came flooding back; he had been on his flight with TJ and had been injured. "

Where are we?", he tried to ask, finally managing to open his eyes.

"Back in the village", TJ replied. "You were hit by two arrows, remember?" Rush managed to nod weakly.

"Why did you come back for me?", TJ asked softly, dabbing his forehead with a wet cloth. Rush tried to shrug his shoulders but failed miserably. He replied exhaustedly, "You had the bag with the remote control. Next time you want me to escape without you, let me carry it in the first place."

In spite of this not so very nice explanation, TJ smiled. She knew, of course, he had come back for her and not the DHD, but Rush wouldn't be Rush if he'd admit to it. "Here", TJ said and handed him a wooden cup, "Drink this."

Carefully she put her arm under his neck and slightly lifted his head up. Rush groaned, the movement bringing a new flash of sharp pain. As soon as he had drunk the water, TJ lowered him back down.

"So, what's my condition?", he asked.

TJ bit her lip and told him the truth. "The wound on your side is not that severe. It stopped bleeding and I don't think any internal organs were hit. Your back on the other hand… it looks pretty bad. Your rib was hit and I fear that if it has either broken or splintered, it could pierce your lungs. Your wound is also infected and you are running a fever."

Rush said nothing, only sighing quietly. TJ moistened the cloth again and put it on his forehead. A pregnant silence cast a cloud over the room, since Rush and TJ were both well aware they were in serious trouble, at this point with no solution.

Thinking became more difficult for Nick. Besides the pain he was experiencing, he felt feverish and it was difficult to keep his eyes open, let alone concentrate. He also was starting to feel lightheaded.

"Do think there's any chance of getting the remote control back?", he managed to ask after a little while.

The medic shook her head. "No, the bag is gone and we won't get it back."Rush pursed his lips. „And in your current condition don't even think about trying to stand up, let alone trying to walk", she added.

"Who said that was my intention?", he replied bruskly.

"And if you think I'd leave you behind, you're seriously mistaken", she added. "We're stranded. Where would I go?"

"How much time's passed since we were brought back here?", the scientist wanted to know.

"Half a day," she replied. "At least they brought us some clean water and cloths."

Rush slowly lost consciousness again and his head rolled to the side. TJ checked his pulse. If she couldn't properly clean his wound and bind it, sooner or later he would die. He was already running a high fever. She stayed by his side, tried to cool his forehead as much as she could and hoped he would stay calm and not become too delirious.

TJ woke up in a very uncomfortable position. After so long awake and caring for her patient, she must have drifted off. What had woken her now was Rush, who was shifting restlessly and moaning with pain.

"Damn it", TJ murmured and put a new, wet cloth on his forehead. Rush lashed out in a feverish dream and TJ tried her best to keep him from thrashing about. For a man who looked quite slender, the scientist wasn't lacking in muscle.

"Hey, I need help!", she shouted, hoping someone would hear her. Instantly the door opened and a guard looked in at her. "I need something for disinfection, new water, cloths and something for his fever", she explained quickly.

This guard, who seemed to be more friendly than the previous one said: "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you!", TJ said, before the door was closed again.

It felt like an eternity for her until anything began to happen. The guard walked in accompanied by a young woman with some supplies.

"He has to stay still", she said helplessly, looking at the woman and guard. The woman put her hand onto Rush's forehead and also his cheeks and said to the guard, "She's right, he's running a very high fever."

"I'll go get a few ropes", he said and left them alone.

"Can you help me?", TJ appealed.

"Of course", she answered. "You should have said something earlier", she added with a slight reproach in her voice. While TJ really had neither the time nor the inclination to argue with her, she angrily retorted "I didn't know prisoners were allowed to make requests. Quite frankly, I never thought you'd give a shit about us, when you hunt us down and shoot us like animals. You all knew he was badly injured."

"I'm sorry; but you shouldn't have tried to escape", the woman said regretfully. TJ didn't answer, she just started to peel off Rush's shirt and carefully roll him over onto his stomach with the help of the woman. Right on time the guard returned, carrying some ropes and assisted the women to restrain him as he was still incoherently flailing his arms and legs.

TJ put her jacket under his head so he wouldn't inhale the dust on the ground and while the guard steadied his legs and the woman his arms, TJ picked up what she needed. "Is this for disinfection?", she asked, pointing to a small bowl with a pink liquid. "Yes, we tap it from some trees. It is very effective."

TJ dipped a new, clean cloth into the liquid and dabbed it onto the wound. Rush winced in pain and then screamed. It may have been effective, but it felt like it was burning a hole in him. "Hold him steady!", TJ yelled, reacting quickly and pressing his wrist down with her knee. The woman needed both of her hands to hold Rush's other arm down.

"You should pour it over the wound; it works best that way", the woman advised her and TJ did as she was instructed. The searing pain brought Rush out of his delirium. "Nick, I know it's burning, but try to keep still. You mustn't move around too much", TJ said softly and Rush tried to hold still. "Almost done", she informed him and covered the wound with a new cloth.

"I hope it stays there", she said doubtfully. "We have to lift him a bit, give me a hand please." Gently they first turned Rush, who was groaning in pain once more, over and lifted him up slightly. TJ wrapped a large cloth twice tightly around his chest and nodded towards both villagers. "Okay, let him down again." As soon as Rush's head touched his makeshift pillow, he drifted back into a fitful sleep.

"Tie his legs, this should help to keep him steady", the guard said and handed her a rope.

"Thank you", TJ said and twined it as loosely as possible around his ankles. "I'll get you some fresh water and some herbs", the women offered and TJ nodded thankfully.

In the next three hours, Rush's condition got worse. He was literally burning up and TJ didn't know what else she could do to help him. The herbs the woman brought to her earlier weren't helping and the scientist was still moving too much. TJ had to hold him down. At some point he somewhat regained consciousness.

"Where… am I?", he asked exhausted. TJ filled the mug with water, kneeled behind him and lifted him up a bit, so he could drink something.

"Still on the planet", TJ explained. Drinking the water had cost him all of his strenghth and still lying in TJ's lap, he passed out again. "Rush, please hang on", she whispered, and carefully let him slide down to her jacket again.

Suddenly she could hear screams and weapons fire outside. She heard a well-known voice calling her name, which brought happy tears to her eyes. "Colonel! We're inside here!", she shouted as loud as she could and rose up, pushing the door open. The guards were gone and she looked around. She was so relieved by what she saw, that she stumbled slightly. At once, Young was by her side having spotted her.

"TJ, are you alright?", he asked privately. She nodded and for a long moment hugged him tightly. "Where's Rush?", he asked and TJ pointed into the hut. "He's in a really bad way, I don't know if he is going to make it. We have to get him back to Destiny as fast as possible", her concern about her patient coming to the front.

"Scott! Over here!", Young shouted and went into the hut. Scott got there seconds later and couldn't help but ask, "Will he survive?"

"I don't know", TJ said. "Take him to the ship. Make sure his upper body stays straight and level. TJ untied his ankles and Scott and Young lifted him up and carried him out of the hut.

Outside they lowered him carefully down again and Young waved over Greer. "Help Lt. Scott bring Rush back to the gate. I want him back on Destiny ASAP."

"Yes, Sir", Greer replied, shouldering his weapon and lifting up the scientist together with Scott.

TJ stayed by his side while Young made sure the villagers were kept under control. They were all disarmed and rounded up in the middle of the village. Six soldiers guarded them and Young took three more of his men to find the cave with the mysterious device.

After some minutes, the team carrying Rush reached the gate. Eli and some of the other crew members were waiting for them. When the young man saw his mentor, he sprinted towards them and asked aghast, "TJ, what happened?" At once he helped the two soldiers with Rush and laid him down again in front of the portal.

"I don't have time right now, Eli, we have to get back to the Destiny."

"On it", he said and quickly dialed the gate.

Four portals later they were finally back on the ship. "Infimary, now!", TJ commanded, shooing people who had gathered in the gate room and were staring in shock at Rush to get out of her way.

"Chloe, Camile!", TJ shouted, when she saw the two women; both of whom ran over to her immediately. "Chloe, I need you to assist me in sickbay. Camile, see to it that we get a physician on board...now!"

"On my way", Wray said and sped towards the stones room.

"What happened, TJ?", Chloe asked concerned. TJ gave her the short version.

"He was shot and the wound is infected and I cannot be completely sure that he doesn't have internal bleedings or bone splinterings. Those could penetrate his lungs or even his heart."

Finally they got to TJ's territory and Rush was laid on a cot. He was still unconscious, for which TJ was thankful at the moment. With Chloe's help she started to treat the scientist. Shortly after she had begun, Camile joined them, having switched her body with an SGC doctor.

"Dr. Charles", she introduced herself. "What do we have here?", she asked and made a quick triage of her own.

TJ explained what had happened on the planet and Matt, who knew enough to throw up the ‚do no disturb' sign, shooed the rest of the non-essential personnel out of the infirmary and said to TJ: "We're just outside. If you need anything, give a yell."

"Thanks", she quickly said and the doors were closed. All the rest of the crew could do now was wait.

Half an hour later, Young appeared at the infirmary door and asked: "How's he doing?"

"Don't know, Sir, they're still treating him. We have to wait. But Dr. Charles is also in there, so he stands a better chance."

"So, we wait", Young said absent-mindedly.

Eli, who had been hard on Colonel Young's heels, leaned against the wall and stared at the door, behind which Rush was struggling against death. After a short time, Young said, "Okay people, let's let them do their job. TJ will inform us when they have a better idea what is going on. Lt. Scott, Sgt. Greer, you two stay here in case TJ needs help. The rest of you – back to work."

Uneasy, the crew members drifted away from the infirmary door, except for Scott, Greer and Eli. After several minutes of silence Eli burst out with "Why didn't we do something sooner? Jesus, I really should have noticed something earlier, after all I'm working everyday with him. Then we'd have exposed the replacements more quickly and maybe made it back in time and Rush wouldn't have been injured. What..what if he's really going to die?"

There was a more than a touch of panic in Eli's voice and Scott grabbed the young man by both of his arms and said forcefully, "Eli! Stop it! How could we have noticed it any earlier? No one was even thinking about something like this happening! It was Rush and TJ who returned on board. And Rush was injured some time ago, we couldn't have done anything more than we did." He looked straight in his eyes and said firmly, "But we found them, thanks to you. So stop blaming yourself, that is not going to help any of us."

"Sorry", Eli said, taking a deep breath and calming down. Matt let go of him and tried to cheer him up a bit by saying, "Hey, Rush is one fucking, tough old bastard, somehow he always survives and TJ is doing her best. You should have some trust in both of them." This observation seemed to cheer Eli up a bit, he even could himself force to smile slightly.

"Okay", he said and slid down the wall to sit on the floor. He wouldn't leave until he knew how Rush was doing.

His patience was tested in a hard way though, and not only his. Colonel Young radioed in every 30 minutes to ask if there was something new and after the sixth time even Scott was kind of amoyed, although he would never admit it.

Finally the doors opened and TJ came out. Her face was slightly reddened and strands of hair were falling tangled into her face. Eli got up in an instant and the three men looked at her eagerly.

"How is he?", Eli asked at once.

"Well, he's still alive", TJ began, "but the next 24 hours will tell if he's going to make it."

"What happened to him?", Greer asked, who initially couldn't stand Rush, but after a few months had come to respect him in his own way and really didn't want him to die like this.

"He was hit by two arrows. One wound isn't that serious, but the other...he was hit in in the back of his shoulder and a piece of bone splintered off from his rib. In addition to a wound infection, this bone shard penetrated his lung, but fortunately not before we had him here. It caused us some trouble to remove it and now we have to wait to see if his lung was damaged too much. In a hospital it wouldn't such a big problem, but here… we're nearly out of medicine and we don't know anything about the ancient devices on board…", TJ hestitated and Matt laid his arm around her shoulder. "He's running a high fever plus the lung… I don't know if he is going to make it." All three of them became aware that TJ was trying very hard to hold back her tears and Matt offered: "Shall I inform Colonel Young?"

She nodded. "Yes, please. And Sergeant?", she adressed Greer, "Could you please escort Dr. Charles back to the stones room? Right now, she can't do anything more for him."

"Of course, Ma'am"

"TJ, can I see him?", Eli asked very softly, pleading with his eyes. At first the medic wanted to refuse, but when she saw Eli's face, she said, "Only for a few minutes, okay? He's still unconscious and he needs rest."

"Thanks", Eli said and slowly entered the room. "I'll get Dr. Charles", TJ said and followed Eli. Shortly time after only TJ, Chloe and Eli were in sickbay and gathered around Rush.

The scientist laid there, still as death. Initially, Eli thought he had stopped breathing as his chest was rising and falling almost imperceptibly. His face though was reddened by the high fever he was running and on his forehead shone small beads of sweat. Chloe, who sat by his side, laid a wet cloth on his forehead and took two more wrapping them around his calves. _She looks exhausted_ , Eli thought.

"Chloe, how about I take over for a while? Get some rest, I can stay with him, okay?"

The girl looked at TJ. Yes, she could really use a break, but like TJ and Eli she wanted Rush to not be left alone if she could help it. But TJ nodded slightly and when she saw Eli's pleading face she stood up. "I really could use a break. If the cloths start getting dry, just wet them again and put them back on, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll see to it", Eli said thankfully.

"I'll be back later to relieve you. Thank you, Eli!" Eli didn't hear her anymore as he was completely focused on Rush. The scientist moaned softly, but didn't wake up.

TJ checked his vital signs once more and retreated, hoping to give both men some privacy. Eli hardly noticed that he was alone with Rush. Carefully he changed the cloths every few minutes and without realizing at first, he started to talk to Rush.

"You should have seen your double", he began, "He didn't even know how to access Destiny's systems, I had to do it for him. And he was friendly! Didn't shout at me or boss me around. It was really weird. I mean, from seeing you with Dr. Perry I know you can be nice, but you never show that side to us. First I thought you were playing some kind of mind game, you know, cause I left you alone that night to go to the planet, but… then I realized that something must be wrong…I mean, I've known you for some time and even if you boss me around that much or yell at me, forcing me to work constantly…", Eli's face was right beside Rush's now and whispered, "I still respect you and have a great deal of regard for you. Maybe you don't have the best social skills, but… please don't take this wrong, you're my mentor and…", by now his voice was scarcely audible, if Rush could have heard him, "…and like a father to me. You talk to me, work with me, encourage and push me and I think, you even like me. But if you leave me now, you're no better than my real father. Please Rush, don't leave me. Don't leave us. We need you… I need you." He placed a hand on Rush's good shoulder and squeezed gently. Then he noticed the cloths were already dry again and thankful for this distraction, he changed them. What rubbish was he talking? He was glad Rush couldn't hear him. He had let himself go and this kind of gnawed at him. If Rush had been awake, he probably had would have given him a piece of his mind. Thinking about that, Eli couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Eli…", he suddenly heard a very low voice and saw Rush's eyes were cracked open.

"Nick", Eli burst out in surprise, slipping and by calling him by his first name.

"So… hot", Rush groaned and Eli called for TJ. She came over immediately and upon noticing Rush was awake, took the opportunity to force him to drink.

"Eli, help me lift him up a bit. He has to have fluids."

"Sure, no problem."

It wasn't hard for Eli to get him in a half sitting position on his own. While the scientist had no strength to help him, he was so light it wasn't necessary. Meanwhile, TJ came back with a mug filled with water and some herbs and held it to his lips.

"Slowly", she said and Rush managed to twist his mouth when he tasted the bitter liquid. "I know, it tastes awful, but it will help." It took him a few minutes, but he managed to drink the whole mug. Completely exhausted, he closed his eyes again and when Eli lowered him back down again he was already drifting away.

"Dr. Rush, you need to fight, understand?", Eli told him forcefully before the man passed out again.

"It was good he was able to he drink that; I'm feeling more confident now. The herbs are really helpful to him." TJ really seemed to be relieved and Eli went back to changing the cloths on Rush. Somehow they had to get his temperature down.

A few hours later, Col. Young appeared to ask about Rush's condition and wasn't too surprised to see Eli still there with Chloe taking care of the very ill scientist. TJ couldn't give him any news, his condition was still unchanged and the night would bring the decision. Unhappy about the situation, Young said his good-byes and a few hours later, when the artifical night set in, TJ tried to send Chloe and Eli back to their quarters but both refused to go.

So they arranged a rotation in order that Rush could be monitored on a continuous basis, but it seemed as if none of them could rest that night. It was shortly after midnight when Chloe, who was at Rush's side, noticed that something was happening.

"TJ!", she cried and at the same moment Rush started to shake badly. TJ was by his side right away, as was Eli, and she examined Rush quickly. "His temperature has risen, and he has the chills…", TJ said and stopped. Chloe and Eli watched her with fearful eyes. They knew TJ was hiding something.

"TJ, what's the matter with him?", Chloe cried and tried to hold down Rush's legs while Eli did the same to his arms. TJ didn't answer, instead she ran over to the medicine cupboard, grabbed a syringe and injected Rush with something. "Don't stop changing the clothes, we have to get his temperature down."

"TJ, you're hiding something", Chloe said and looked at her with widened eyes. The medic sighed and said: "Rising temperature, shivering; these could be the first hints for pneunomia and in his current condition… he just won't make it." The last words were spoken very quietly but Eli felt like TJ had screamed them. They echoed like bells in his head and he looked down in horror at Rush.

"No, he's not going to die. Do you hear that, Rush? You're NOT – GOING – TO – DIE!" Eli held him tighter. "Don't you dare even think about dying of pneumonia or anything else or I'll kill you, got that?"

"Eli, it's okay, calm down", Chloe said softly. She'd never have thought that her best friend would be so attached to Rush. TJ was by his side now and put her hand on his arm and looked straight at him.

"Eli, I didn't say it was pneumonia, I just said it could be… I'm hopeful because he's not coughing. So, think positive, okay?" TJ relayed these words far more confidently then she felt. At least it gave them a glimmer of hope.

Eli didn't say anything more, just stared at Rush and Chloe noticed a little quirk at the corner of his mouth. Tirelessly, he went back to cooling Rush down.


	6. Chapter 6

The next few hours were critical. The fever remained high, but at least the shivering had stopped after a while. Rush was very delirious and restless. That whole night TJ, Chloe and Eli held him down, tried to to get him to drink more of the herbal water and continuously kept cooling him down.

In the morning all three of them were so exhausted, so much so that Chloe, who had simply sat down on an empty cot, toppled over onto her side and was immediately asleep. TJ gently lifted her feet onto the cot and coverd her up with a blanket.

"Eli, you should get some sleep too", she said.

"No way", he replied. "If anyone should go to bed, it's you. You've been awake since when… days?"

"But I have to stay and keep an eye on him; especially now", TJ replied and Eli suggested, "Let's get Dr. Charles back on board. She can watch him while we're both taking a break."

On the one hand TJ wasn't keen about leaving her patient with someone else; but on the other hand she was so tired and exhausted that she finally agreed. She wouldn't be much help to Rush if she couldn't think straight and made a mistake. "You're right. Please inform Camile. I'll tell the Colonel."

"Okay", Eli said, giving Rush a last look and left the infirmary.

Meanwhile TJ informed Young about the plan and he promised he'd assign someone to help the physician who would be taking care of Rush. At first he thought he'd have to order someone, but there were many volunteers.

"Seems, Rush is more popular than I thought", he said to Scott, while they were on their way to the stones room to escort Dr. Charles.

"He's a selfish bastard but… sometimes he can be nice. Every now and then..." Young grinned.

"Dr. Charles?", Young adressed Camile.

"Yes, is Dr. Rush worse?", she asked.

"I'll let Lieutenant Johansen bring you up to speed. Please, follow us."

"Dr. Charles?", TJ greeted her when she arrived in the infirmary.

"Yes, how's he doing?", she asked and stepped over to the cot to examine Rush.

Tamara explained what had been happening and voiced her concern about the possibility of pneumonia. Since Rush hadn't done a single cough recently, Dr. Charles agreed it was very unlikely. Both TJ and Eli (who had come back) were relieved to hear that.

"All of us could use some rest, to be honest", TJ said. "Chloe was so exhausted, she fell asleep before he head hit the pillow and Eli and I are not far behind. I really need someone here who knows what to do in case Dr. Rush gets worse. I hope it's no trouble for you?"

"Of course not, get some rest. You both look as if you're going to pass out any moment now. I can stay and keep an eye on him."

"Oh, thank you, Dr. Charles! Come on Eli, you heard her; Dr. Rush is in good hands. I want you to try to sleep a bit."

"Fine, but if anything happens, I'd like to know, okay?", the young man asked and to make sure he really wouldn't miss anything, he pulled a Chloe and laid down on a unoccupied cot in the back, where he was asleep in an instant.

"I have some volunteers who'd like to help take care of Dr. Rush", Young said to Dr. Charles after TJ had left for her quarters.

"Nurses are quite welcome and I'd enjoy some company", the physician replied. "but no more than two people at a time," she added.

"Sure thing; we'll come up with a rotation."

"Sounds good, send the first ones along to me."

"Lt. Scott, go and ask who wants to help Dr Charles and Rush first and then work out a rotation."

"Yes, Sir", Matt answered and left.

"Until your assistants arrive, is there anything I can do?", Young offered.

"Not at the moment, but thank you."

"Okay. In that case I'll go back to work. If you need anything, don't hesitate to let us know."

"I won't. Thanks."

Dr. Charles sat down on a chair besides Rush and changed the cooling cloths. Young watched her a few seconds, than he turned and left the room.

The doctor wasn't alone for long. Only a few minutes later the first two volunteers in the shape of Brody and Volker appeared. After they had quickly introduced themselves, the doctor explained what they needed to do and then used the time to look through TJ's medications in case she needed something for Rush.

For four hours, both men sat by their „boss", engaging in very quiet conversation and watching for any changes. Every few minutes they changed the cloths, but the fever continued to stay at the same level. Dr. Charles watched Rush like a hawk, but couldn't much do for him because of the limited supplies available. She just hoped he would make it.

For the next shift, Lisa Park and another scientist (who while she didn't work too closely with Rush, obviously felt some sympathy for the constantly bad-tempered grumbler) arrived. Both watched over him the for the next few hours but his condition remained unchanged. Dr. Charles was seriously concerned that he was still running such a high fever, but she didn't tell anyone. Around mid-day Chloe woke up.

"How long was I asleep?", she asked and yawned, before she slid off the cot.

"A bit more than 8 hours", Lisa answered and said: "How about you go to the mess hall and grab something to eat for yourself and Eli? You must be hungry."

"That's a good idea, I'll be back in a minute."

"You can leave, too", Dr. Charles said. "Lt. Johansen will be back soon and if I'm not mistaken", she looked in the back part of the sick bay, "ah yes, Mr. Wallace is awake too. Thank you for your help."

"Our pleasure." Park and the other scientist stood up to go. Before they left the infirmary Lisa turned back and asked hesitantly: "Dr Charles? D-Do you think Dr. Rush will be okay?"

This was one of those moments Dr. Charles hated in her job – raise someone's hope when there wasn't much with a smile, just to let the relatives think the patient would get well so as to keep them from showing despair near him. Negative emotions were never good for the healing process, so she always tried to give positive informations if death wasn't that near and there was still hope. Like with Dr. Rush. She really hoped the scientist would make it, but every hour that the fever stayed that high and Rush became weaker his chances of survival dropped.

But now she smiled as usual and said, "He's a fighter. Let's give him some time, these things take a while. I'm confident he'll make it as long as there are no further complications."

Lisa forced herself to smile, thanked her and left.

"Did you really mean what you've just said?", Elis voice came from behind her.

Dr. Charles bit on her lip, she had completely forgotten about the young man. Now she turned around, to find Eli sitting beside the cot again, and said, "Mr. Wallace, to be honest – I don't know. But I really hope so."

She felt the young man needed the truth and no false hopes.

Eli just nodded and looked back to Rush again. She was sorry for him. Even if she was here only a short time, she could see how much Dr. Rush meant to Mr. Wallace.

"Mr. Wallace…", she began hesitantly, "maybe it would be helpful, for both of you, if you'd just talk to him."

Eli thought about that quickly. "Can he hear me?", he asked.

Dr. Charles shrug her shoulders. "I don't know, but it's worth a try. Most patients, no matter their condition, can sense if there's someone near them, which is often very beneficial."

"Okay, then I'll talk to him…", Eli said absentmindedly, but remained silent.

Dr. Charles sensed this wanted to be a private conversation and that he would like to be alone with Rush, but it wasn't going to be that simple. However, in a few minutes she'd be relieved.

With perfect timing, Chloe returned, a tray in her hands with three bowls on it.

"Hey Eli, I got you some breakfast… well, more like lunch", she corrected herself.

"Thanks", Eli said and took a bowl, suddenly very hungry. Chloe handed one to Dr. Charles, who thanked her. Then the girl sat down on the other side of Rush and in silence they ate up the mush.

Shortly aferward, TJ appeared and Dr. Charles went with her in the back to give her a status report.

TJ nodded thankfully, then said goodbye and radioed Young, to send someone to bring the doctor back to the stones room.

Five minutes later, the three were alone and TJ sat down beside Rush's cot as well. Chloe broke the silence by asking: "TJ? What do you think? How long until the fever eventually breaks?"

"That depends on the circumstances", she answered. "It's his fight alone, we can't do more for him than we have been. It could be hours or days."

Chloe looked surreptitiously to Eli who had stopped eating, instead looking sadly at Rush. His friend put her hand on his arm. "He's gonna make it, Eli, for sure." Eli neither answered nor moved.

Rush on the other side groaned and his eyelids were fluttering, but he didn't wake up. Tensly TJ looked at him and waited to see if he started to shiver again, but fortunately he didn't. "Maybe he is having a bad dream", Chloe said.

"Possibly", TJ agreed. "Such a high fever can lead you to believe in the craziest things". She replaced the cloth on his forehead and Eli, who was a quick thinker, changed the leg compresses. A few minutes passed and the scientiest calmed down a little.

The next hours until night fell passed by very slowly. Eli insisted that TJ and Chloe should rest, while he wanted to stay with Rush.

To make sure they were in range in case something might happen, both women snagged cots in the back and after a while Eli could hear the regular breathing of both.

He bent down to Rush and squeezed his hand timidly. Dr. Charles had said talking might be helpful, so Eli started talking.

In the beginning he just told him about the ship and repairs, how he still had trouble reading ancient and that he was afraid, because of that, Rush would be disappointed in him. If it was not about numbers, he sometimes made small mistakes. He told him, what was on his mind and realized later that he had been talking about his mother. Normally he never talked about her, but now he did. He told Rush everything; how she got infected with HIV, the situation at home when his father was still there and the horror when he learned his mother was sick. He told him about the quarrels and accusations and finally, how his father left his mom and him. He knew Rush was aware of the situation regarding his mother but he didn't know the details. So he told him everything from those days and even when he had tears in his eyes, he didn't stop.

It did him good to finally tell all of it to the man he saw as his surrogate father, whom he trusted like no one else (no matter what had previously happened) and hoped Rush would understand. It was also a lot easier for him to tell everything because it was very unlikely Rush would hear or remember. An hour later he fell silent and realized that he was feeling better; somehow at peace with himself but still very concerned about Rush.

Eli was getting tired and without noticing, his head dropped onto his shoulder and he fell asleep, his hand still laying on Rush's.

"Eli… ELI!", Chloe, who woke up around 3 am, found her best friend asleep at Rush's side and her heart sank when she saw that Eli's hand was holding his.

"What… where?", Eli started from a very uncomfortable postition and groaned slightly. His neck was completely stiff.

"Eli, get some sleep", Chloe said and pointed over to a cot.

"No, I'm awake. I just dozed off a moment", he muttered sleepily and kneaded his neck. Then he looked at Rush, who was lying there peacefully. Chloe took the dry cloths off and wet them again and Eli became aware he had fallen asleep on the job.

"I'm sorry", he said, more to the unconscious scientist than Chloe and changed the leg compresses.

"Eli", Chloe said suddenly,resting her hand on Rush's forehead.

"What?"

"I think, the fever is breaking."

"What?!" Eli put his hand at once on Rush's forehead too and she was right, he wasn't burning up like before.

"Shall we wake TJ?", Chloe whispered and looked at the medic, still asleep in the back.

"No, let her sleep. If it breaks, it's a good sign, we don't need to wake her. That's it, Dr. Rush, fight on", Eli murmured and for the first time in a long time, Chloe saw him smile with relief.


	7. Chapter 7

A few hours later the simulated dawn set in and TJ woke up.

"Mornin', has something happened?", she asked, before she even got up.

"I think the fever is breaking", Chloe said happily and TJ came quickly over, looking hopefully at Rush. She put her hand on his forehead and his cheeks and a wide grin appeared on her face.

"I think it is." She fetched a thermometer to confirm it and wasn't disappointed in her findings. "He's down to 102.74 °F", she told the others. "Still way too high but much better than the constant 104°."

Her eyes slid to Eli and she saw the dark circles under his eyes. "Eli, get some rest, Chloe and I can take it from here."

He was a bit reluctant, but knew that TJ was right. So, he left the infirmary making a small detour to the mess hall to get some breakfast before heading to his quarters to get some sleep. Around noon he returned to the infirmary. He even remembered to bring lunch for everyone with him and sat down by Rush's side.

"How's he doing?", he asked, hoping for a positive update. "He's recovering, Eli", TJ said and smiled. "He's down to 102.02."

A broad grin broke out on his face and Chloe smirked. Then she asked something that had been bothering her for some time, "Eli, don't you have some work to do?"

The MIT dropout shrug his shoulders. "Brody, Volker, Park and the others have control of the situation. Systems are running smoothly and I think they can work a day without me. If something comes up, they'll let me know."

"Don't you think Rush will want to know about the ship as soon as he's awake? Better be prepared, Eli. You know that's very likely the first thing he'll ask", Chloe joked and both Eli and TJ had to chuckle.

"She's right", came a sudden low voice which made them almost drop their bowls. Dr. Rush's eyelids were cracked open at Eli. TJ was up at once and examined her patient. "Dr. Rush, how do you feel?", she asked, and took his pulse.

"Thirst…", Rush managed to say and both Eli and Chloe sped off to fetch some water.

"Here", Eli said attentively and handing the mug over to Chloe, put his arm under Rush's neck and very carefully lifted him up a bit.

Rush let out a muffled cry of pain and TJ asked: "Shoulder?"

"Yes", he confirmed. Eli held the mug to his lips and although if it took some time, the scientist drank the whole cup.

"Some more?", Chloe asked, and Rush nodded.

While Chloe refilled the mug, Rush, who could speak more clearly, asked, "What about the ship?"

Eli and TJ rolled their eyes synchronously and Eli grumbled, "You're really impossible! Ship's fine, you're not. You should be a little more concerned about yourself!"

Rush lifted one eyebrow slightly and gave Eli a sharp look. He was familiar with Eli's sometimes childish outbursts, although they had never been directed his way.

"I'm… sorry", Eli murmured. "But you nearly died here and the first and only thing you can think about is the goddamn ship!"

Rush sighed. Eli seemed to be really worried about him and deep inside he felt flattered. So he said, "You look after me very well, Eli. That's why I don't worry about myself."

Eli stared at him and grinned. Chloe brought the refilled mug back and Eli gave the completely exhausted Rush another helping hand. As soon as the second mug was empty, he closed his eyes.

"Dr. Rush?", Eli asked, afraid the scientist might be relapsing.

"I'm fine... just tired", he said and a few seconds later he fell back asleep.

Eli gave a puzzled look to TJ but she just smiled. "Now I'm sure he'll recover", she said and Eli felt happy like never before.

During the next several hours, they stayed with Rush and could almost see how he was progressing. In the late evening, TJ took his temperature again and said, "100.4. That's much more better." The wound on his back looked better, too. She had checked with the help of Chloe and Eli an hour ago and the three now prepared for the next night shift.

This time TJ stayed awake, while Chloe and Eli went to their quarters. Since Rush's condition wasn't life threatening anymore, she had sent them away with a clear conscience. The young woman decided to check her medicinal supplies and was soon sitting at the sideboard taking inventory.

"Lieutenant?", she heard Rush's voice some time later and immediately put her pen away.

"Is something wrong, Dr. Rush?", she asked a bit alarmed, giving him a quick check.

"No, I'm just thirsty", he said and Tamara went for a some water.

"You really scared me to death", she said, when she helped Rush with the mug.

"Because of a little fever?", the scientist asked lightly.

"Yes, exactly", Tamara said a bit annoyed because he was so cavalier, "plus the arrow wounds. You were closer to death than to life, so please stop downplaying how serious your condition has been. We were very worried about you."

Rush looked at her thoughtfully and said, to TJ's surprise, "Sorry. I can't stand being ill and lying around feckless."

"Trust me when I say Destiny will survive a few days without you. You really should start trusting your colleagues. They do a good job."

Rush sighed. "They're too slow and don't understand half. Except for Eli."

Tamara narrowed her eyes to slits and said, "Seems you really are on the road to recovery. You can already grumble."

"I'm not grumbling. It's a fact," Rush said calmly.

"Are you aware that there are actually some people on this ship who like you for some reasons?", TJ started to tease him a bit. Rush stared at her slightly irritated. "Besides Eli and Chloe there were actual other crew members who volunteered to help take care of you."

"Oh yeah?", he just asked.

"Nick, whether you like it or not, there are people here who care about you. So please stop pretending you're superman."

"I never said I was," he replied.

"No, but you act that way...nothing but work, no breaks, you miss meals, drink far too little…"

"If the others were more capable, I wouldn't have so much work to do."

TJ sighed loudly, shook her head and said: „Oh, I give up. You're beyond help."

Rush said nothing. If he was honest, he really was surprised by TJ's assertion that Eli wasn't the only one who could stand him. He felt he could not risk letting anyone close to him ever again, except for Dr. Perry. Closeness always ended in pain and loss. No...especially here on Destiny, billions of light years away from earth with always the same people… that would only cause heartache.

And then there was Eli... He had heard what Eli had told him in that night, even though he wasn't sure at first it was real. He thought about the confusing dreams he had had, but when time had passed he was able to seperate facts from dreams and although he tried as hard as he could, he couldn't escape the fact that Eli's words had touched him deeply. If he'd ever had a son, Eli (and his talent for numbers) would certainly have fit the bill. Maybe that's why he liked him so much, at least by his standards. Of course he would keep that to himself, at least for now, anyway. And Eli had so much potential; far more than he thought he did. Rush would make it his job to push him towards maximizing that potential. That was very important for him.

"Are you hungry?", TJ suddenly asked from the back. "Not really", he answered.

"Then drink this instead", she said and handed him a mug, which contained no water this time but some yellow, foul-smelling, goopy liquid. He wrinkled his nose. "What IS that?"

"A cocktail. Drink up, it's good for you, lots of nutrients. Of course if you'd prefer to eat, I'll gladly get you something…"

Rush gave her a peeved look, held his breath and without hesitation choked all of it down.

TJ had to laugh and took the mug back. "Not bad, not everyone can drink that", she said, while Rush tried not to spit out what he had swallowed.

"Tomorrow I'll take the food", he said and screwed up his face again.

"Good choice", TJ replied and said: "Try to sleep. You're still a long way from healthy and need rest."

Resting right now wasn't that difficult for Rush as he had been awake for a while and was exhausted. He closed his eyes and felt fatigue overtake him.

When he awoke the next morning, he saw the smiling face of Eli cradling a bowl in his hands.

"Mornin' doc, your breakfast", he said cheerfully and helped Rush into a sitting position, taking care not to touch the wound in his back. Despite his caution, Rush groaned, the pain was still very much there.

"Sorry", Eli murmured, but Rush shook his head. "It's not your fault, that bloody wound hurts even when I breathe."

Carefully, Eli tucked two pillows behind Rush's back and let him slowly down on them. Nick felt dizzy, it was the first time in days he was sitting upright. Fortunately, the feeling faded fast.

Since he was too weak to eat by himself, Eli fed him the standard mush spoonful by spoonful. They made it haflway thru when Rush shook his head. "That's enough, I'm feeling a little queazy." Eli looked at TJ, but she only nodded.

"He can try to eat more later; for now that wasn't bad."

"Okay." He put the bowl aside and asked: "Do you want to stay sitting up or would you prefer to lay back down?"

"I think laying down is a good idea", Rush replied and tried to sit up a bit to made it easier for Eli but the attempt ended with a groan of pain. "Wait, I'll help you." Eli helped him at once and Rush sank down on his cot again.

"I didn't know that eating could be so exhausting", he groaned and closed his eyes tiredly.

"You're still running a fever, the wounds are not yet healed and you're completely enfeebled", Eli gave him a short summary, ticking each point off on his fingers.

"Yes, Mr Wallace, I am aware", Rush replied gruffly. "What about Destiny? Anything new?"

"And you're also only thinking about work", Eli added, his head shaking.

"Well, I have to busy myself with something, haven't I?"

"Shall I get your book?", Eli offered brightly. "Then you would have something to do." Rush rolled his eyes. Eli continued, "Just concentrate on getting well again."

"How long has Destiny been in hyperspace?", Rush continued asking, as if he never heard Eli.

The young man shook his head, sighed and said, "Since you've been back we haven't dropped out. So…", he had to think a moment, "about three days."

Rush knit his brow. "That's ununsual", he said.

"There are no portals at the moment. You were lucky we could get you both back, that was our last chance."

"Dr. Rush", TJ interrupted, "I'd like to have a look at your back. We're going to turn you over, okay?"

"Only if you have to", Rush murmured and began to turn over by himself. He got his comeuppance at once in the form of a stabbing pain in his back and he let out a cry of pain.

"You're not learning, are you?", Eli said in a peeved tone and together with TJ helped to turn him onto his stomach. The medic took off the compress and inspected the wound.

"Looking good but I think I'll need to disinfect it once more. This could be a bit painful", she warned Rush. A bit was definetly an understatement. When TJ cleaned the wound, Rush thought he'd caught fire and just wanted to scream. He suppressed it though and bit his lip bloody instead. He hunched his shoulders and started to curl in on himself.

"Nearly done", TJ said, when she noticed it. When she finally was finished, Rush sighed in relief. Eli and TJ helped him turn over again after TJ had placed a new compress to the woundsite and gave him another complete check up.

"You're getting better", she said to both men with a smile. "If you continue like this until the infection is gone, well, maybe we can talk in a few days about a little work", she teased Rush.

The corner of his mouth were twitching, always an obvious sign he was angry, but he kept quiet. Eli couldn't help but laughing. "You look as if TJ just doomed you."

"I really don't know why you're still here when you should have been at work by now", Rush snarled at him instead.

"Okay, okay, doc, I'm on my way." Despite the harsh tone Eli wasn't angry. On the contrary, now he knew, Rush was really Rush. With a "if you need me, TJ, just let me know", he left the infirmary quite amused.

A few days later Nicholas Rush was finally allowed to recover in his quarters under strict supervision. Both TJ and Eli kept a close eye on him to make sure that he didn't overdo it and took his meals regularly.

The back wound was nearly healed and after two endless weeks (at least for Rush), TJ allowed him to resume his work.

When Eli entered the bridge that morning, he stopped dead in his tracks, for there was Rush sitting in the Kirk-chair. He hadn't expected that.

"Dr. Rush?", he asked flabbergasted, but he didn't answer.

Eli stepped down the few stairs until he stood in front of him. Slightly annoyed Rush looked up finally. "Shouldn't you be at your station instead of staring at me and trying to figure out if I'm real or not?", he snapped in his usual, cantankerous way.

"TJ allowed you to go back to work already?", Eli asked without reacting to his words.

"Obviously or I wouldn't be here. Now...off to work!"

Eli saw to it that he got to his console quickly and heard the bridge doors opening a few seconds later.

Volker and Brody came in obviously engaged in a contentious conversation. They had reached the lower platform before they realized that their boss was on the bridge, too. Both fell silent in tandem and stared at him with widened eyes.

"You're both wrong", Rush began. "Neither the one nor the other theory would explain why the energy supply has failed. Luckily for you I'm back to set things straight."

Volker and Brody's jaws dropped down in another, absolute identical motion. They looked at Eli who just shrugged his shoulders. "Just accept it", he said and started to work, before Rush would chew him out..

"Worry about something else and keep your hands off stuff you don't understand", Rush snarled at them both and they scurried towards their stations.

For the next several hours Rush urged them to work in his unsual manner. Eventually, Volker and Brody managed (using frail excuses) to make their escape off the bridge and out from under Rush's supervision to spend the rest of the evening in the bar, where they had more than one drink.

Eli had to bite back a laugh when both had made their retreat and tried to come up with an excuse himself to go to sleep. He'd never admit it out loud, but after the last days he was really tired.

Surreptitiously he looked behind him at Rush, and saw him just sitting there, his one hand at his mouth, staring at the display for several minutes. Eli couldn't help it but this reminded him exactly of the Rush double and he asked with a bold grin, "Did you forget how to access the systems? I could help…"

Rush looked at him suddenly, his eyes narrowed to slits and he just said: "Mr. Wallace…If you hadn't admittedly taken care of me several days ago, I'd chuck you out on your ear off this bridge. You've got exactly one minute to finish up and leave."

Eli didn't need to be told twice, after all he'd meant to provoke his boss. "I'm off! I just wanted to be sure, that you're really you, Dr. Rush. See, you normally don't stare into space for 5 minutes and…"

"OUT!", Rush ordered him bruskly and Eli almost ran off the bridge. Before he stepped through the doors though, he stopped, turned around and asked almost hesitantly: "Dr. Rush?"

Rush turned around in his chair and looked at him glowering.

Eli just smiled and said: "It's good, to have you back. Good night." Then he was gone.

Rush looked at the closed doors and a small smile appeared on his lips...


End file.
